Punta Prieta to the Western White House

Thirty Years Ago The tall blonde who sits on a barstool in front of the Princess Rap Parlor on lower Fifth reacts warily to questions about her trade. "That's all I ever do, man; just talk to them. I can make good money at it, so why should I risk getting in trouble?" A dozen blocks away at police headquarters, Captain D.A. La Motte, head of the vice squad, scoffs at the idea. "It's all just a word game," he says. "All the parlors -- rap, massage, the nude photography places -- all work about the same." -- CITY LIGHTS: "$20 FOR YOUR THOUGHTS,"Jeannette De Wyze, September 15, 1977

Twenty-Five Years Ago Earlier, when we were coming into Punta Prieta, I guess Ed had decided to give Myron a little thrill and he'd gotten off the main road and onto the dirt road. After Punta Prieta we were doing about 70 or 80 and there was this same little parallel dirt road alongside, I think where the old highway used to be. I saw the dust cloud again up ahead only about 200 yards. No sooner had I thought that than I realized he had rolled the truck over." -- "SOMEWHERE BETWEEN DEATH AND THE BORDER,"Bob Dorn, September 16, 1982

Twenty Years Ago Ocean Beach is the most dangerous place to swim in the county, according to rescue figures compiled by lifeguard agencies. During August, city lifeguards made 629 rescues there, more than the total for all other local beaches combined. City lifeguard captain Bill Norton says Ocean Beach has been dangerous for swimmers since the early '50s. That's when tons of sand dredged from Mission Bay were dumped on the ocean floor just south of the Mission Bay Channel, which marks Ocean Beach's northern perimeter. "All that sand changed the configuration of the beach," he says. -- CITY LIGHTS: "SWIMMING IN STATISTICS,"

Thomas K. Arnold, September 17, 1987

Fifteen Years Ago Coronadans, forever in a fret over the glut of traffic, now have a new worry. Island scuttlebutt has it that should Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton prevail in November, M. Larry Lawrence's mock-Tudor mansion (dubbed "Crown Manor") on Ocean Boulevard will become the Western White House. -- CITY LIGHTS: "BILL, HILLARY, LARRY, AND SHELIA,"

Judith Moore, September 17, 1992

Ten Years Ago AoxomoxoA, 18, Mission Valley

Why do you steal? We never stole anything out of malice or frivolous things we had no use for -- well, okay, maybe we didn't need the cigarettes or some of the books -- but we ate the food we stole or sold whatever else we stole to buy food and pay for utilities.Caesar, 16, Encanto

What do you steal? Whatever I can't get for free. If I could get it for free, there wouldn't be any point in taking it. I'm not one of those kleptomaniacs who does it, like, compulsively. -- CITY LIGHTS: "WHY DO YOU STEAL?" Tamara Bradford-Kiskaddon, September 18, 1997

Five Years Ago What has a better-than-even chance of occurring on a Friday afternoon? A toothache. Why should this be more likely to happen on a Friday afternoon? Because you cannot easily get to a dentist until Monday. That's what happened to me two Fridays and $1100 ago. At first the intermittent pain was distracting, but it became a sharp glissando up the right side of my skull. I was annoyed when my girlfriend asked why I was crying. I told her I was not crying and asked her to drop that line of questioning. She claims I screamed, "Shut up!" Women always have their own version of things. -- T.G.I.F.: "IT TOOK A SECOND BEFORE THE PAIN REGISTERED AS A WHITE FIELD OF INTENSE LIGHT ACROSS MY EYELIDS," John Brizzolara, September 12, 2002